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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: degree · wind · bulb · present · straw · board · kid · net

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. degree — from a university
  3. wind — moving air
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. net — for catching
  6. present — the time now
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. present — a gift
  10. board — to get on
  11. degree — temperature
  12. net — in sport
  13. degree — an amount
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. wind — moving air
  17. present — there
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. kid — child
  21. bulb — for light
  22. board — a committee
  23. bulb — for light
  24. net — after costs

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com